


sleeping stars

by amybri2002



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Birthday, Fluff, Gen, logan is bad at taking care of himself, this is logan's bday fic y'all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-03
Updated: 2018-11-03
Packaged: 2019-08-17 04:32:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16509443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amybri2002/pseuds/amybri2002
Summary: Logan never really understood birthdays. He would participate as a child for the formality of it, but now? There was no point. That wasn't going to stop his flatmates from making him celebrate though, even if he is seconds away from collapsing of exhaustion at any moment. Is there any way to save this day for Logan?





	sleeping stars

**Author's Note:**

> ayyyyy happy birthday logan! 
> 
> i wrote a thing for this birthday, here is the thing, i hope y'all enjoy ^^

His eyes glued to the screen, Logan typed away into the night, ignoring the desperate calls from his body for sleep. He was _so close_ to finishing this project, and had _so little_ time to complete it to meet the deadline, and it had been _so long_ since he met a deadline on time. This time, he was determined that he would finish it in time. And if that meant staying up until the early hours of the morning, then so be it.

He wasn't sure when the last time he had slept was. He wasn't even sure what _day_ it was. He had started on... Wednesday, he believed. Or maybe Thursday. Yes, Thursday. On Wednesday, one of his flatmates, Patton, has forced him to partake in the 'festivities', or whatever one would call it, of Halloween, so he hadn't found time to start it then. So it must have been Thursday.

He must have left his room once or twice to get food, he thought. Or perhaps he hadn't. He couldn't remember a specific time in which he had gone, but he must have done it subconsciously, right? Yes, he must of. The plate of snacks sitting next to his computer, untouched, was enough to prove that fact.

Sunlight seeped in through the window. Was it morning already? Logan glanced down at the clock in the corner of the screen, which confirmed his beliefs. It was already eight. Without moving from his space, he reached one hand over to the plate, and picked up a cereal bar, beginning to nibble on the edge as he typed with one hand. That would be a sufficient enough breakfast, he assumed.

A loud bang echoed through the room, causing Logan to drop his bar. He moved away from his computer, and looked over to the door, which had opened slightly, revealing a head poking through the gap. Brown hair, freckles, glasses. Patton.

"Morning, Lo!" he exclaimed, opening the door more and making his way into the room.

Logan gave him a nod of greeting, and turned back to his computer, continuing to type.

Patton came up behind him, placing two hands on the back of his chair. "Logan, it's nine am on your day off, why are you working?"

Logan frowned. "It's not my day off. That's a Sat-" He glanced down to the corner of the screen, where the date was also displayed. "What do you mean it's Saturday?"

Patton laughed. "C'mon, Lo, you should be out there, havin' fun! We have so much planned for today! It _is_ your birthday, after all."

"It's my..." Logan blinked. "What?"

Patton has already left the room. Surely it wasn't already Logan's birthday, right? Although, looking at the date, it did appear to be his birthday. The third of November. Wow.

He couldn't stop working, though. He had to get this completed. Birthdays had never bothered him, anyway. He had never really seen the point in them. Why would people need to celebrate the day that they came into existence? It was all just a waste of time and money. As a child, he had participate as a formality, but now? There was no point.

The others had prepared something, though. According to Patton's remark, at least. So maybe he should have gone to join them. Sure, birthdays weren't a thing that Logan cared too much about, but he supposed that he couldn't let the other's hard work go to waste.

He saved his file, shut down his computer, and began to get ready for the day. Since he had been sitting in his room for over two days, he decided to get a quick shower and put on a clean pair of clothes (his usual black shirt, blue tie, dark blue jeans) before heading downstairs. He also quickly slapped on some foundation to make the bags under his eyes less noticeable, in order to... ease any concerns that the other would have for his wellbeing. Even if he was technically lying to do so.

Once he arrived in the living room, he noticed his three flatmates sitting on the couch - Patton, Roman, and Virgil. Decorations had been rung up on the wall and from the ceiling - banners, balloons, and the like. That was probably all Roman's doing.

"Happy birthday!" Patton exclaimed.

Logan gave him a small smile as he made his way other to his usual armchairs at the side of the couch. Virgil looked up from his phone and greeted Logan was a finger gun, before going back to scrolling through whatever social media he was on. Probably Tumblr. Roman stood up and left the room, a smirk across his face, which... in simple terms, confused Logan, but he wouldn't let that show.

"So, Lo-" He snickered. " _That rhymed._ "

Logan sighed. "Yes, Patton, that did indeed rhyme, now what was you going to say?"

"Oh, yeah." He took a deep breath. "What do you wanna do today?"

There was a long silence between them, as Logan tried to figure out how to answer that question. In all honestly, he wanted to go back to his room and continue his work, but he knew he couldn't do that. It was his birthday, and Patton was excited about that, for some reason, so he had to do _something_ with the others. "I don't know," he finally replied. "I, um, I assumed that you had something planned."

"We do," Virgil quickly said, without tearing his eyes away from his phone screen, "but that's not until later."

Logan blinked. "Alright."

"So," Patton picked up, "is there anything you want to do _before_ that thing that I'm not gonna talk about?"

_Sleep,_ his body urged.

_Shut up,_ Logan retaliated.

He shook his head. "No. I'm fine with... accompanying you guys on whatever you have in store."

Patton seemed taken aback, but smiled. "Okay! That's fine! Uh... Virgil?"

Virgil hummed. "There's a new café in that bookstore that opened up a while ago. I went in there yesterday and it was pretty chill."

Logan perked up. "Books?"

"Yes, Logan, books," Virgil confirmed.

"Let's go there, then!" Patton decided.

Roman burst into the room, with boxes stacked up in his arms. He dropped the boxes in front of Logan, and returned to his seat. Logan looked at him in confusion.

"Birthday presents," Roman explained.

"Ah." Logan nodded. "I see. I'll... open them later." That was the weirdest thing about birthdays, in Logan's opinion. People just... buy you things. It made no sense. What if the receiver didn't like the gifts? What if they already had one? How was they supposed to react at all? Was they supposed to thank the giver? Give them a present back? Why couldn't the receiver just go out and buy all their presents themselves?

"Well, if we're not doing the presents first," Patton said, "shall we head off?"

* * *

Logan stared into his cup of tea, watching the liquid swirl around. The others were chatting away, but Logan wasn't listening. He could barely focus on anything. He supposed that that was because of how little sleep he had had recently, but wouldn't admit that out loud. Never. He would be fine. It was just one day, and then he could go back to normal. Just one day with his... friends.

"Logan?" He looked up. "What do you think?"

Great. Patton had been talking to him, but he hadn't been listening, and now a verbal response was required. "Uh, yeah, sure," he said, hoping that would be enough.

"Awesome!" Patton exclaimed, standing up and grabbing Logan's arm to drag him up too. He began to lead Logan further into the bookstore, despite his protests of having not yet finished his tea. Patton just giggled, and continued walking, until they reached a section in the back of the store. "Here we are!"

Logan frowned, as he looked over at the books and then at Patton. Why... Surely there had to be a reason as to why Patton had interrupted his tea drinking to drag him all the way over here. 

_Maybe if you had listened, you would know,_ the voice in the back of his mind told him. 

He shook that thought away, and instead just looked at Patton, in hopes of an explanation. 

"Pick one," Patton instructed. 

Logan blinked. "I-"

"Any book, Logan," Patton said. "Just get one off the shelf, I'll pay."

Holding his breath, Logan turned back to the shelf, and looked across, trying to read the titles but failing as the letters melted into one. The lack of sleep was really getting to him. As was the cosy environment of the bookstore. He had to force himself to not look at the comfy beanbags in the corner that would have been perfect to take a nap on, and instead picked a random book off the shelf and held it up to Patton. 

"Sherlock Holmes!" Patton read, giggling. "I should have known you would have gone for that!"

Logan laughed along with him, hoping that Patton wouldn't notice how fake it was. He couldn't let Patton guess that he had just chosen a book at random. 

As Patton went to pay for the book, Logan made his way back to the table and continued drinking his tea. Maybe that would help him wake up a little more - coffee probably would've been better for that, but he had never been a coffee guy. 

At some point, Patton must have returned, because the book was now lying in front of Logan, and the others were looking at him expectedly. Logan stared back. 

"Well?" Virgil finally said, breaking the silence. "Are you going to read it?"

Logan just continued staring. 

"You said you'd read a bit out to us," Virgil reminded him. 

He had never agreed to that, right? Unless... Unless that was what Patton had been asking him earlier. Of course. That would make sense. Logan nodded, and opened the book, beginning to read out loud.

The letters wouldn't stay still. They wouldn't even show themselves as their true form. The page was just filled with black smudges, as if Logan had taken off his glasses. His glasses _were_ on though, right? He lifted his hand up to make sure, pushing them further up his nose as to not cause suspicion. Maybe they needed cleaning?

Or maybe Logan was still too tired to be dealing with any of this. The others were still staring at him, their eyes digging into the back of his skull. He slammed the book shut. 

"You know what," he said, "maybe we should leave now. It is getting rather late, is it not?"

"It's half three," Roman pointed out. 

"And the bookstore closes in half an hour?" 

"Logan, it's a Saturday," Roman said. "The store closes at four on a _Sunday_. On a Saturday it closes at five."

Logan nodded. "Right. Of course. Even so... the _café_ closes at four, right?" He looked over at the woman behind the counter, who just slowly shook her head. Logan took a deep breath. " _Okay._ Well, what time is the thing that you were planning, Patton?"

"In an hour," he quietly stated. 

"There we go!" Logan let out a sigh of relief. "We have to be ready for that, correct?" 

Virgil must have seen the desperate look in Logan's eyes, because the next moment he had begun to usher the others out of the store and towards their next destination. 

* * *

Logan could feel his eyes begin to close. He willed them to stay open. Patton had brought him to a show about _space_ , which, as Patton had clearly known, was one of Logan's favourite subjects, and he _was_ enjoying the talk. It was all very interesting, and Logan had always been one to enjoy learning new things, especially things that he was passionate about. He couldn't let his body give up. He had to stay awake for this, if only to allow Patton to know that he appreciated all of this. 

But the next thing he knew, his head was resting on Virgil's shoulder, and the show had almost finished. He was about the move to continue watching the final ten minutes or so, but Virgil's arm wrapped tighter around his shoulders, and he was so comfy and warm that he couldn't help but lean closer. 

The next time he woke up, he was lying on the couch, enjoying the feeling of fingers running through his hair and twisting around the curls. Virgil was there with him, holding him tight. When had they come back home? Why was it already dark outside? Why was it dark in the room? Where was everybody else? 

Logan began to sit up, but Virgil pulled him back down. 

"Rest," Virgil whispered. 

Logan blinked. "I... what happened?"

"You fell asleep during the show," Virgil explained. "I didn't want to wake you up. I know you haven't been sleeping, Logan."

He frowned. "How-"

"You're a really bad liar, you know that," Virgil said. "The entire day you've been on the brink of collapsing." 

Logan was about to protest, but thought better of it. Besides, Virgil _did_ have a point. "Where are the others?" he asked instead. 

"Sleeping."

Logan sat up, with Virgil allowing him to do so this time. 

"I'm sorry your birthday didn't go as planned," Virgil apologized, sounding genuine. 

Sighing, Logan gave him a small smile. "It's fine, Virgil. I never understood birthdays, anyway. To me, this was really just any other day."

Virgil snorted. "In that case, I'm sorry that this completely normal day in your life didn't go as planned." He took Logan's hand. "I do want to make sure that it doesn't go to waste, though. Come with me." 

The two stood up, and Virgil took Logan out of their flat, up the stairs to the roof. A purple and black plaid blanket, similar to the patches on Virgil's usual jacket, had been laid out on the floor, with an assortment of snacks on top and a single Victoria sponge cake in the centre. Virgil let go of Logan's hand and sat down cross-legged on the blanket. Logan quickly joined him. 

"Did you do all of this?" Logan asked. 

"We never got change to do the cake, so I thought I'd do it for you up here," he said. "The others said they wouldn't mind as long as we save them a slice. Also, since you missed most of the space thing, I thought you'd appreciate some stargazing. The view from up here is also beautiful."

Logan raised an eyebrow. "And you know this, because?"

"I come up here when I can't sleep."

"I understand."

Virgil smiled. "Well, since you're fully awake now..." He took out a lighter from his pocket, and lit the candles on top of the Victoria sponge cake. "Make a wish."

Logan rolled his eyes, but blew out the candles none the less. In his head, he made a simple wish, one which he would never admit out loud. He didn't think he would, at least. 

Virgil took a knife and cut out two equal slices, placing them both on a plate and handing one of the them to Logan. "I know that this is your favourite kind of cake, so don't even try to say you don't want anything. You also haven eaten properly in a couple days, so you have no excuses."

Logan laughed. "It's okay, V, I'll eat the cake."

"Good."

The two sat in silence for a few minutes as the ate, staring up at the millions of stars across the night sky. Logan could understand why Virgil came up here so often - the view was truly breath-taking. 

Once he had finished, Logan put his paper plate down on the blanket, and looked over at Virgil, who appeared to be mesmerised by the stars. Logan couldn't help but smile at that. 

Virgil looked back down, his eyes widening. "Wait!" He stood up. "Stay right here, I'll be back in a moment."

Logan nodded. "Okay." He waited. 

And waited. 

When was Virgil coming back?

It... hadn't been that long, surely. It just felt that way because Logan was alone, on the roof, in the cold. But when Virgil finally did return, Logan couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. 

He was holding something in his hand, wrapped in brown paper. A long tube, of some sorts. Virgil handed it to Logan, and sat back down. "Open," he instructed. 

Although slightly confused, Logan did just that. Within the package, presumably a birthday present, was a telescope. And a good one, at that. Logan had been looking at this specific one in the store a while ago, with Virgil. Had he really remembered that? 

"I knew you've been wanting to buy this for a while," Virgil said. "And since the view is so nice up here, I thought it'd be cool to try it out every once in a while."

Logan had already begun to set it up at Virgil talked. Without replying to Virgil, he looked through the lens at the stars, at the moon. Virgil wrapped his arm around Logan, and looked up with him. 

"What did you wish for?" Virgil asked. 

Logan smiled. "For this."

Maybe birthdays weren't so bad after all.


End file.
